Wi-Fi’s never lacked for strength and unless you went by “Hef”, consistently wore a smoking jacket and were concerned about the state of the Grotto for your next party, you probably never pushed the range limits of your wireless system within your home.
The Wi-Fire, a recently released USB wireless antenna by hField Technologies, may be able to offer a considerably longer range than a conventional internal AirPort card.
According to Macworld News, the Wi-Fire which functions as a directional high-gain antenna with 802.11 b and g support, can function up to 1,000 feet away from a base station.
The card, which measures 3″ x 4″ x 3/8″, folds up when not in use and can be perched near a laptop when needed.
The Wi-Fire is immediately available and retails for US$79.
If you have any thoughts on this or have tried similar wireless antennas, let us know in the comments of forums.

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On Wednesday, Mirosoft released version 7.0.3 of its Virtual PC emulation software for the Mac that allows users to run Windows and x86-based operating systems on older PowerPC-based hardware.
The update, a 16.7 megabyte download, repairs a vulnerability in which an outside party can overwrite contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.
Virtual PC retails for US$129 and requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later to run.
If you’ve tried the new version or have thoughts about Virtual PC in general, let us know in the comments or forums.

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On Wednesday, Skype released a public beta of version 2.7 of its self-titled Voice over Internet Protocol software.
The new version, a 31.8 megabyte download, adds the following features and changes:
-Now you can organise your contacts into as many groups as you need. While there are some pre-defined groups (like Online, Recently Contacted, Address Book Contacts), you‚Äôre free to add new ones that suit your life. This is very useful to those who are very popular and have a contact list with hundreds of people. Explore this feature under the cogwheel icon on the main screen and selecting “Show Contact Groups”.
-See your Apple Address Book contacts in Skype – easily call or SMS anyone who has a phone number in their address-book profile. When sending a SMS, just make sure the number you‚Äôre sending to can receive SMS.
-Create and manage public chats by clicking on Chats in the menu bar and choosing Start Public Chat. A public-chat assistant will walk you through the necessary steps.
-Auto Redial for busy or unconnected calls. When your call hits the busy signal, Skype will give you the option of automatic redial every two minutes until the call goes through. This setting can also be adjusted in Skype > Preferences > Calls.
-Easy sound controls ‚Äì when you need to tweak the sound level during a call, use a simple slider in the call window, or change your device by clicking this icon.
-Overhauled file transfer ‚Äì wearing a more fashionable jacket, file-transfer now looks elegant and acts even nicer, especially when receiving many files at once.
Skype 2.7 requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later to run and is coded as a Universal Binary which can run at native speeds on both PowerPC and Intel-based hardware.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any kind of feedback, let us know in the comments or forums.

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Since its introduction, it hasn’t been a challenge to get your mitts on an iPhone. Still, additional purchasing options never hurt.
According to The iPod Observer, Apple is now allowing the iPhone to be sold through consultants and other value added providers currently participating in the Apple Authorized Business Agent Program.
The change, which might be seen as a ramping up in production for the iPhone, could also be an effort to test the waters before instituting a wider-scale iPhone sales program. Should such an effort prove successful, iPhone sales could then expand into additional channels such as online and catalog-based authorized resellers.
To date, Apple has sold approximately 270,000 iPhones and expects to sell one million units by the end of its September quarter.
If you have any thoughts or feedback on additional iPhone retail outlets, let us know in the comments or forums.

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On Tuesday, software giant Microsoft released version 11.3.7 of its Office 2004 for Mac productivity suite. The new version, an 8.6 megabyte download, repairs a security vulnerability in which malicious code can be inserted.
The update can be downloaded directly from Microsoft’s web site as well as through the Microsoft AutoUpdate application, which is typically found in Mac OS X’s Applications folder after the software has been installed.
Microsoft Office 2004 requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later to run and varies in price depending on the version purchased.
If you’ve had either a positive or negative experience with the new version of Office 2004, let us know in the forums.

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It’s one of the most useful chunks of shareware out there and where Windows Media Player for the Mac went south so many years ago, this filled in perfectly.
Flip4Mac, the popular shareware collection of Windows Media components for QuickTime, has been update via a public beta of version 2.1.3.3 of the software.
The new version, a 7.6 megabyte download, repairs an issue with failed export functions after installing QuickTime 7.2.
Flip4Mac 2.1.3.3 is available for free but can go as high as US$179 depending on the version purchased. The new version requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and QuickTime 6.5.1 or later to run.
If you’ve tried the new version or have two cents to chip in about Flip4Mac, let us know in the comments or forums

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On Monday, Shape Services announced its IM+ for Skype for iPhone, a program that allows iPhone users to access the Skype VoIP network.
According to Macworld News, IM+ for Skype currently functions on other mobile devices such as BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian and J2ME. Once a user has logged in, they receive full access to their Skype accounts and can make voice calls through their SkypeOut credit balance.
Where the iPhone is concerned, the software is currently in a public beta testing stage. Users can access the service by pointing their iPhone Safari browser to www.skypeforiphone.com.
Shape has stated that the application functions on any network and doesn’t specifically require a Wi-Fi connection to work.
If you’ve tried this and have any feedback, positive or negative, let us know in the comments or forums.

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Late Monday, Apple released its AirPort Base Station Update 2007-002 software.
The fix, a 7.7 megabyte download, includes fixes and updates for the following wireless-related applications:
- AirPort Utility.
- AirPort Disk Utility.
- AirPort Base Station Agent.
The revision brings the AirPort Utility program up to version 5.2.1 and supports Apple’s current wireless router lineup such as the AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n, AirPort Extreme Base Station and AirPort Express Base Station. Per Apple’s specifications, the software requires Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later to install and run.
If you’ve installed the new version and have either positive or negative feedback, let us know in the comments or forums.

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It’s not for sale yet, but it’s as shrewd as it gets.
Apparently the guys at Ecamm Network attended the C-4 developer conference and during the “Iron Coder Live” event, crafted a quick mirror-based hack to allow for videoconferencing via an iPhone.
According to Mac Daddy World, the hack was based around a quick program installed into the iPhone (after the iPhone jailbreak tool created by the iPhone Dev Group was installed) that worked with the camera function to provide the videoconference. The iPhone was then set to speaker mode and a series of Huckleberry mirrors acted as a periscope of sorts with the software reorienting the image and allowing for the image to appear correctly.
Since a picture’s worth a thousand words:

No software or source code has been made available, but it’s a clever workaround and will hopefully inspire a cool product.
If you’ve seen anything like this or come up with a cool iPhone camera workaround of your own, let us know in the comments or forums.

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Late last week, German software firm Nova Media released message2net 1.2.3, the latest version of its SMS management software. The updated package, a 2.9 megabyte download, boasts the following fixes and changes:
Address Book support:
Search for a name and get the associated mobile phone numbers displayed in a snap without the need to open Address Book.
Multipart SMS-support:
Don’t stop at 160 characters. Just continue typing with multipart SMS support. There is a limit of 10 SMS you can sent in a row, however.
Group SMS:
Share your insights with group SMS. message2net supports sending one message to 10 people at once, so there is no need to leave someone in the dark.
Easy SIM-management: With message2net is is simple as drag and drop to copy names and associated numbers from your Address Book to the SIM-card and vice versa. Or just add a new number to your already existing contacts.
New supported phones:
-Siemens BenQ S81
-Siemens BenQ S88
-Siemens BenQ SX1
-Motorola KRZR K1
-Motorola RAZR V3xx
-Motorola RAZR V6maxx
-Motorola V980
-Nokia 6085
-Nokia 6131
-Nokia 6233
-Nokia N76
-Nokia N93i
-Samsung Z150
-Samsung Z400
-Sony Ericsson P1
-Sony Ericsson P910i
-Sony Ericsson W200i
-Sony Ericsson Z610i
Improvements:
-GUI improvements.
-Easy product activation and de-activation.
-Improved sorting system.
-Adressbook pictures used, if available.
-Dock-icon displays numer of unread messages.
-Multiple recepients are displayed and saved for a message.
-Send SMS messages to pstn phones (if these support this function) general bug fixes and improvements.
Message2net 1.2.3 retails for 8.95 Euros plus tax and requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later to run. The program is a universal binary and runs at native speed on both PowerPC and Intel-based hardware.
If you’ve tried the new version of message2net or have a preferred Mac-SMS package, let us know in the comments or forums.